Easy going day today. Cravings, so I decided to cook.

Wow! I am so impressed with my effort to clean out my freezer. I have been craving a smoke pretty bad today. I think it's from boredom, so I decided to make a little headway in cleaning out my freezer. I found some big bags of frozen corn and decided I would make some sort of corn casserole. OMG! It turned out so good, I wrote down the recipe. I actually threw it together from ingredients I had on hand, and I am sharing it here so you can enjoy it also. I call it Cleaning out the freezer Corn Casserole. I believe in keeping things as real and simple as possible. Can't you tell?

Cleaning out the freezer Corn Casserole

Ingredients

1 32 oz bag corn niblets
1 can diced tomatoes with green pepper &
onion
2 cups instant brown rice
1 cup unsalted chicken broth
1 T. cumin
1 T. chili powder
2 t. salt
2 t. parsley flakes
Fresh black pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste
Half a package of Kraft cracked black
pepper cheddar cheese


How to make:

Mix corn, tomatoes, half a tomato can of
water, rice, and chicken broth in large bowl.
Mix in dry ingredients and sprinkle the top
with parsley for color. Bake at 350 for 50
minutes in a 13 x 9 pan. Remove from oven and top with
grated cheese. Cook for another 15 minutes
until bubbly around edges.

I think I may freeze this and reheat for thanksgiving. No cravings now. Yay! Now I'm putting it right back in the freezer. Makes no sense at all, does it? Oh Well...I tried.

Even more stress, but still not smoking thanks to Chantix!

I have not been posting regularly again, but wait until you hear the latest goings on. My last post was on October 30th. On November 1st, Mom had her follow up visit to check on that second shoulder surgery. Turns out, her shoulder was dislocated again. So depressing. The doc thinks it is from movement. He had stressed that she keep her arm immobilized, but it wasn't happening. His medical advice was for her to let him go back in and change one of the parts, so it will be more sturdy and stressed that she will need to keep her arm immobilized. Her other option was to not have surgery and live with her shoulder dislocated. Option 2 is what Mom chose, and it's against medical advice.

She's been in quite a bit of pain, but she has her meds that take the edge off. She has 24 hour sitters, and it doesn't really matter now if her arm is in a sling or not. Her balance is very bad, and I think when she was standing up, she was reaching out with that left arm for balance. The wrong type sling didn't help keep her arm immobilized either.

It gets even worse. That same day (last Tuesday), I got a call while we were in Mom's apartment. My cousin called with news of my Aunt's passing. It was sudden and unexpected, and I was asked to tell my Mom and brother. When I told Mom, she was heartbroken. I was, too. I wound up going to her funeral last Thursday, and traveling over the weekend on a visit. I've been busy all this week with Mom, taking a friend to the doctor, and cleaning, and doing laundry. It's been crazy.

Today is my daughter's birthday. She is no longer a teenager. Wow! I remember the day she was born so well. I feel old now. Oh well! Even with all the drama and sadness and stress, I have not smoked. I thank Chantix for the extra push and help to quit, but I want to stress to those considering using it, it takes self control and will power to stay quit. There are links on the page to the right to quit smoking message boards and discussions. They are an invaluable support system. Go ahead, do some reading. You'll see. The folks are nice and very helpful and I am eternally grateful to them.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!